Rainbow "Monsters of Rock Live at Donington 1980" Japanese editions

As you probably already know, Rainbow's
"Monsters of Rock - Live at Donington 1980"
is to be released as 1CD+1DVD set on Apr. 22 in US and UK
from Eagle Rock Entertainment.


Japan's Ward Records will release it in several different editions on Apr. 15
which have 2 CDs of the concert.




There are 4 variations (with links to Amazon Japan when possible):

• 2CD standard edition
• 2CD+DVD limited edition
• 2CD+DVD+T-shirt edition (Limited to 5000 copies): T-shirt is L-size only on Amazon.
• Super Premium Box (Limited to 500 copies): only available at Ward Records website.
  
  • 2CD of the concert
  • 1CD of radio interviews of the band members (Blackmore / Powell+Airey / Powell)
  • 1DVD
  • 3LP of the concert (same content as 2CD)
  • Reproduction of the concert booklet (excerpt, Rainbow-related pages only)
  • Reproduction of the press pass (from the actual pass used by Japanese rock critic Masayuki Itô)
  • T-shirt (S/M/L/XL)

(Personally I wish there were 3CD+1DVD edition without T-shirt etc.)


Ward Records claims their CDs have
"some parts cut from the international editions."



The tracklistings are as follows:

CD 1:

1. Opening: Pomp and Circumstance (*)
2. Intro /
   Eyes Of The World
3. Since You Been Gone /
   Over the Rainbow (*)
4. Stargazer
5. Catch The Rainbow
6. Don Airey keyboard solo (*) /
   Lost in Hollywood /
   A Light in the Black (excerpt) (*) /
   Ritchie Blackmore guitar solo
7. Difficult To Cure /
   Don Airey keyboard solo
8. Cozy Powell drum solo (1812) /
   Lost in Hollywood (reprise)

CD 2:

1. Lazy (excerpt)
2. All Night Long
3. Blues
4. Will You Love Me Tomorrow
5. Long Live Rock n Roll
6. Ritchie Blackmore guitar crash (Kill the King) (*)
7. Long Live Rock n Roll (reprise) (*)

DVD:

1. Lazy (excerpt)
2. All Night Long
3. Catch The Rainbow
4. Eyes Of The World
5. Ritchie Blackmore guitar solo
6. Difficult To Cure
7. Will You Love Me Tomorrow
8. Long Live Rock n Roll
9. Ritchie Blackmore guitar crash (Kill the King) (*)
10. Long Live Rock n Roll (reprise) (*)

*-marked ones are not listed in the international editions.

But, it seems to me the differences can be mostly attributed to how you describe medleys and solos.

For example, the last 3 "tracks" of CD2,
may be same as the one Long Live Rock n Roll
in the international edition.

The only significant difference may be the opening.
But I'm not sure if it makes 2CD necessary.
There may be more differences actually.

Too bad they don't mention track length, or total time of each disc.
(They say DVD is approx. 30 mins, though.)


BTW, Ward Records explicitly states 2 songs played in the concert -
Love's No Friend and Man on the Silver Mountain - have been lost,
and this is the "as full version as possible today."

"Thunderbirds Are Go" (2015) BD coming in Japan

Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's 2015 TV series
"Thunderbirds Are Go"
is to be released on BD (and DVD) in Japan in May.

Here's what I can tell about the BD boxset.

Basic information

"Thunderbirds Are Go" Blu-ray Collector's Box Vol.1

• Release date: May 11, 2016
• Publisher: NBC Universal Entertainment
• Cat. #: GNXF-1993
• Discs: BDx4
• Region code: ALL
• Video: 16:9 HD
• Audio: English dts-HD MA 5.1 / Japanese LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Subtitles: Japanese / English / Japanese for Japanese dubbs
• Contents: Episodes 1-13
• Runtime: 286 mins (+ 60 mins of extras)
• SRP: 19200 Yen (+ tax)

Extras

• Reggie & Thunderbirds: No Strings Attached
  British TV special aired prior to the series,
  which includes behind-the-scenes,
  interviews with Richard Taylor (executive producer), Rosamund Pike (Lady Penelope), etc.
  
• Shôji Kawamori on Thunderbird S - Part 1
  Interview with Japanese artist Shôji Kawamori (perhaps best known for "Macross" anime franchise), who designed "Thunderbird S" for this new series.
  Here he talked about how he came into the project, where he got the idea for the design, the evolution of the design, also his childhood experiences with the original "Thunderbirds" show.
  
• Slideshow (stills)
  

The Package

• Digipack with slipcase
• Full color booklet (32 pages)
• Postcard ("Thunderbird S" design sketch by Shôji Kawamori)

Notes

• This is a limited edition, initial press only.
• Vol.2 is not announced yet.

As you know, in UK, ITV released the show only on DVD,
and reportedly they have no plan for BD release for now.
It's a strange decision when the show was made and aired in HD in the first place.

Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's shows have been VERY popular in Japan,
especially the original "Thunderbirds".

The original show was released on BD s few years back, in the original 4:3 AR,
unlike 16:9 trimmed version in the UK.

That boxset has long been OOP but, it's to be reissued on the same date.
(minus the booklet included in the previous set.)

"Thunderbird" Blu-ray BOX


I wrote about the previous boxset here (near the bottom).

Links

• Japanese official website of the show (in Japanese only)
• NBC-UNI's information page of BD boxset
• Shôji Kawamori's official website (partially in English)

"Hard to be a God" Japanese BD includes "Playback" documentary

Aleksey German's "Hard to be a God" has been available on BD in US and UK
with different extras, as reviewed by
Blu-ray.com and DVDBeaver, respectively.

Based on these reviews, both BDs have good extras,
but there's one notable material missing:
"Playback"(2012),
a documentary movie on ther making of "Hard to be a God".
(For the details of "Playback", please read Film Divider's article.)

But the recent Japanese BD includes it.
As far as I know, this is the first time "Playback" is available on BD/DVD.




Japanese BD basic specs

• Video: VistaVision (16x9 enhanced)
• Audio: Russion
• Subtitles: Japanese
• Region code: ALL
• Discs: BDx2 (Disc 1: DL, Disc 2: SL)
• Publisher: IVC
• Release date Dec. 18, 2015
• Runtime: 177 mins

Disc 2 is devoted to "Playback" (67 mins).
Also comes with a 28-page leaflet with essays by Japanese critics.

Of course, even if you can ignore its high price,
the Japanese BD wouldn't attract many foreigners
as it only has Japanese subtitles,

I have no plan to get it for the present, because
I'm rather skeptical of the A/V quality of the products from IVC.

James Bond 007 - Japanese graphic novels

In Dec. 2015, Japanese publisher Shogakkan released
the reprints of 4 books of Takao Saitô's graphic novel adaptations of
Ian Flemming's James Bond stories.

• Live and Let Die
• Thunderball
• On Her Majesty's Secret Service
• The Man with the Golden Gun
  

Originally written in 1968,
they are officially licensed adaptations,
but long time out-of-print.

After the licence has expired Saitô begun his most successful
(and still going on) series Golgo 13.
It's widely believed these Bond adaptations served as the basis for Golgo 13.

These reprints are billed as
the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Saitô's career.

Also obviously a tie-in with Japanese release of the movie Spectre.



Of course they are in Japanese,
but if you are a collector who wants to have anything James Bond,
they may be of your interest.


I haven't read any of them myself, but reportedly,
the stories are very different from the Flemming's source books.

Note that, among the 4 stories above,
Thunderball was the only one already adapted to screen at the time.

Still, Saitô's Bond doesn't look like Sean Connery at all.
(Somewhat like Victor Mature IMO.)
See here, for example.